The asylum king: How an Essex businessman made a billion from migrant hotels

The scene was a Westminster committee room, the year 2016, and a former Army major, grey-haired and dressed in suit and tie – was facing an uncomfortable line of questioning. James Vyvyan-Robinson, who served with the Royal Green Jackets, was then director of Clearsprings Ready Homes. The company made its money, then as now, by housing asylum seekers in Britain, as contracted to do so by the government.